Website for a Book:  Essential?

Many of my clients want to know if they need a dedicated website for a book.  My answer is yes with the caveat that it should be a website that acts a vehicle for sharing information not only about their books and subjects, but themselves as well.

Benefits of a Website for a Book

Author Leslyn Keith's website

The benefits of having a book author website are powerful. For instance, maintaining an author website (and a book website) gives you a platform from which you can:

  • Build interest in your future books and your brand as an author.  A book website is great way to connect with your readers.  If you build it right, potential customers can learn about your immediately with just a quick internet search. You can also offer a blog to solicit comments and suggestions, or float ideas for new books. This allows you to build a relationship that can create a memorable place for you and your work in the readers’ minds.  They will be more likely to look for and buy more of your work in the future.
  • Sell your books and other products directly to your customers.  When you have a website for a book, you can sell that book (and others!) in PDF format directly to your customers.  This means you get to keep the majority of the book sale profit. 
  • Keep your customer sales message is on target. You retain control and make sure your platform says what you want it to say. The problem with relying on Facebook or Google is that their messaging is not under your control.  For instance, what if you write books for children and Facebook decides to put very adult ads next to your book ads?
  • Build other streams of income such as paying ads and affiliate relationships.  A book website is a great way to build multiple streams of income. Not only can you can sell your books in PDF format, you can offer affiliate links to your books on Amazon. The benefit is that when a reader clicks on that link, you also get a financial cut of anything else they buy on Amazon within that transaction. I once made an big bonus on a book sale because the person also bought a $1000 gift certificate at the same time. 
  • Your website can also act as a platform for other products.  A website for a book can also act as a platform for selling courses or other products related to your book content, or to launch a podcast interviewing experts in your field or other authors that you want to share with your readers.
  • A book website also offers a way for people to share your books and products.  Build in buttons for other social media platforms such as Twitter and Instagram, so that readers can just click to share your book with their audience.

So now that you know you need a website for a book, the next question is how to create a book website.